Saturday, April 14, 2007
Tapas Party at Home
Carrot Puree with Caraway, Feta and Mint
This was an interesting dip adapted from a great book called Casa Moro.
-10 large carrots, peeled, trimmed and cut into 1" long rounds
-1 large handful of mint
-1/2 cup crumbled feta
-1 tb caraway seed
-salt and pepper to taste
-a few tb olive oil
Coat the carrots with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast, covered, in a 400 oven for about 45 minutes, or until fork tender. Put the carrots, caraway seed, 1/2 the mint and a few tb olive oil in the food processor and puree. Spread the puree on a plate and sprinkle the the feta and the remaining mint.
Roasted Eggplant and Red Pepper Dip
This was a bit pasty tasting, in Alexis' opinion.
-2 red peppers
-4 cloves garlic
-juice of 1/2 lemon
-salt and pepper to taste
Roast the whole eggplants and red peppers on 400 until the skin has blackend and the peppers are deflated. Put them in a paper bag, or a glass bowl covered with plastic wrap for 15 minutes. Remove the skins and seed the peppers. Add the peppers, eggplant flesh, garlic, lemon and seasonings into the food processor and pulse a few times.
Alexis' Hummous
This is an often requested and frequently praised dish that was originally adapted from a recipe of Alexis' mom's.
-1/4 cup tahini
-1/4 cup lemon juice
-1/2 cup olive oil
-6 cloves garlic
-salt to taste
Puree all ingredients in the food processor until very smooth.
Chorizo Tortilla Bites
In Spain, a "tortilla" is basically a quiche with potato. This one was cut into easy to eat bite-sized pieces
-2 small potatos, boiled and diced
-6" length of dry chorizo, diced
-1 cup parmasean, grated
-2 tb water
-2 tomatos, seeded and diced
-1 bell pepper, diced
-1 onion, diced
Sautee the onions, tomatos and peppers on low for about 5 minutes, until very soft. Add the diced chorizo and boiled, diced potatos and sautee for another 5 minutes. Beat the eggs and water together and then add them to the pan. Stir all ingredients and then leave it alone for about 10 minutes, still on very low heat. When almost all the egg is cooked, except for the top, add the cheese and put under a hot broiler for a few minutes, until the cheese is brown and bubbly. You can serve hot, room temperature or chilled.
Manchego Cheese with Quince Paste
This is a super simple appetizer that was a huge hit. Simply spread a tiny dollop of quince paste (available at any Mexican grocery store, or Whole Foods) on a slice of Manchego.
Empanadillas
Hand-help pastries a kind of labor intensive, but they are always a crowd pleaser. Also, these are healthier, since they are baked instead of fried.
-6 oz cheese, grated
-1 tin anchovies, minced
-1/2 cup sun dried tomatos, minced
-1 cup kalamata olives, minced
-pepper to taste
Mix the anchovies, cheese, tomatos and olives to combine. Put a teaspoon-ful of this filling in the center of every round of dough. Wet the edge of half the pastry dough and fold over. Squeeze edged to secure. Brush with beaten egg and bake on 350 for about 10 minutes, until puffy and golden.
Roasted Asparagus with Proscuitto
Roast asparagus on 350 until tender, then wrap the speared in a super-thin slice of proscuitto.
Chorizo, Honeydew Melon and Chorizo Salad
This was a great salad. Sweet, salty and unexpected. This recipe was adapted from a book simply called Tapas.
-1 honeydew, cut in bite sized pieces
-1 lb marinated artichoke hearts, quartered
-red wine vinagrette made of equal parts red wine vinager, mustard and olive oil
Thoroughly mix all ingredients.
Squid with Cherry Tomatos and Arugula
This was better in theory than practice, but I think the squid, served warm in the dressing, would have been nice on its own.
-2 large handfuls fresh marjoram
-2 large handfuls fresh cilantro
-juice of 1/2 lemon
-1/2 cup olive oil
-salt and pepper to taste
-1 and 1/2 cups cherry tomatos, halved
-1/2 lb fresh arugula
Sautee the squid in a bit of olive oil until just opaque, as you don't want to overcook it. In a food processor, combine the olive oil, herbs, salt and pepper and lemon juice and pulse a few times. Move the squid to a glass bowl and pour the pureed dressing over the squid. Chill. In a large bowl mix the chilled squid, the arugula and the cherry tomatos and serve as a salad.
Meatballs
These meatballs were not salty enough, but they were tasty in the homemade tomato sauce that we forgot to take a picture of.
-1 cup grated parmasean
-3 tb garlic powder
-2 tb pepper
-2 ts salt
-5 low-carb crackers, put in the food processor to turn into breadcrumbs.
Mix all ingredients thoroughly, roll into 1" diameter balls and sautee in a few tb of veggie oil, shaking constantly to ensure they are browned all over. Drain onto paper towels and serve.
Tomato Sauce:
-3 cans diced tomatos
-1 bell pepper, chopped
-6 cloves garlic
-1/2 onion, chopped
-2 tb Italian seasoning
-1 large handful fresh basil
-salt and pepper to taste
Sautee onions and garlic in a bit of olive oil until beginning to carmelize. Add the rest of the ingredients, cover and simmer for an hour. Puree with an immersion blender.
Crab Stuffed Cherry Tomatos
We don't have the recipe for these, as they were made by a friend. They were tasty though.
Garlic Shrimp
Garlic. Butter. Shrimp. That's all I need to say.
-1 head of garlic, cloves peeled and minced
-3 tb butter
-juice of 1/2 lemon
-salt and pepper to taste
-1 handful of fresh cilantro, minced
Sautee the garlic in the butter until just beginning to brown. Add the shrimp and cook on medium high for a few minutes, until the shrimp have just turned pink. Season with salt, pepper, lemon juice and parsley. Serve immediately.
Almond Cake with Rum Syrup and Chocolate Ganache
A rich, decadent cake. Recipe adapted from The New Spanish Table.
Cake:
-8 oz blanched almonds
-1/4 cup milk
-1 cup sugar
-4 eggs
-1/3 cup flour
-1/4 cup olive oil
-zest of 1 lemon
-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
In a food processor, combine 1/2 the sugar and almonds, and pulse until almonds are a fine powder. In a stand mixer, beat the eggs for 1 minute. Then add the rest of the sugar and beat for 4 minutes. Alternate beating in the milk, flour and olive oil. Add the cinnamon and zest and stir to combine. Bake in a wax paper lined, buttered and floured springform pan at 350 for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a baking rack until cool to the touch.
Syrup:
-1/2 cup water
-3/4 cup dark rum
-1/2 cup sugar
Heat over medium heat until sugar is completely dissolved. Prick the cake all over, then liberally brush the top of the cake with syrup. Cover in plastic wrap and let the syrup absorb for an hour.
Ganache:
-8 oz good quality bittersweet chocolate
-1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Put cream and chocolate in a double boiler and stir until a creamy, unified whole. Let cool for 1 hour before spreading over the cake.
Dense and intensely appley, but not too sweet so you could even eat it for breakfast. Also adapted from The New Spanish Table.
-2 cups flour
-1 and 1/2 ts baking powder
-4 eggs
-1 cup sugar
-1 cup greek yogurt (our favorite is Fage brand)
-1/4 cup brandy
-1/2 cup olive oil
Beat the eggs and sugar for about in a minute in a stand mixer for a minute or so. Add the yogurt and brandy and mix until smooth. Alternately add the baking powder, flour and olive oil, mixing to combine after adding each in batches. Fold in the diced apples. Pour the batter into a buttered and floured springform pan and bake at 350 for about and hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Labels: beef, dessert recipes, dinner recipes, dips, eggs, homemade, salad
Brunch from Canton Restaurant, San Francisco, CA
Sui Mai and Har Gow
The sui mai were decent enough and the har gow were quite good, with lots of shrimp chunks and the odd addition of enoki mushrooms.
Tofu Skins with Pork
These were delicious. They were less greasy than this dish usually is and they were filled with pork instead of the usual vegetables.
A bit tougher than usual, but good flavor.
Labels: Decor: 0, Dim Sum, Food: 1, restaurant, review, Service: 1
Friday, April 13, 2007
Dinner from Star of India, San Francisco, CA
Labels: Food: 1, Indian, restaurant, review
Dinner from Mixt Greens, San Francisco, CA
Complete with sun dried tomato, avocado and cucumber and topped with a blue cheese dressing. Very tasty.
Labels: Decor: 2, Food: 1, restaurant, review, salad
Lunch at Taylor's Automatic Refresher, San Francisco, CA
Beer Battered Onion Rings $4
Alexis splurged and ordered these in addition to the burger. These are may be the best onion rings ever--beer battered, super crunchy and yet the onion is very tender. But they are so greasy you can only eat them about once a year.
Labels: burger, Decor: 1, fast food, Food: 1, restaurant, review
Breakfast at Home
Bacon and Spinach Scramble
We like to think that the bacon and spinach cancel eachother out health-wise.
Labels: breakfast recipe, eggs, homemade, spinach
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Dinner at Elephant and Castle, San Francisco, CA
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Labels: Decor: 0, Food: 0, restaurant, review, Service: 0
Dinner at Home
Labels: chicken, dinner recipes, homemade
Lunch from Fatt Dogg, San Francisco, CA
Leftover Creamed Spinach
This actually froze well, which is sort of amazing. And with added cheese it was very flavorful.
Labels: Food: 1, homemade, leftovers, restaurant, review
Breakfast at Home
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Dinner at Borobudur, San Francisco, CA
Steamed Chicken Dumplings with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce $5
The sui-mai-like dumplings were very dense, which was neither good nor bad. And the sauce was an interesting accompaniment.
Roti Prata $6
Winner of our Best Snack of 2006 Award, the Roti Prata never fails. So delicious we had to stop ourselves from ordering seconds.
Spicy Chicken $10
This chicken is fall-off-the-bone tender and the sauce is succulent and very spicy.
Grilled Salmon $12
The flesh was tender and not overcooked and the outside was crusty with a nice charred flavor that complemented the sweet-hot sauce that the salmon was marinated in.
Labels: Decor: 0, Food: 2, Service: 1
Lunch from Osha Thai, San Francisco, CA
Garlic Shrimp
The only thing that would make these better is if they were already shelled, since a lot of the good garlic gets stuck on the shells when you remove them.
Labels: Food: 1, restaurant, review, thai
Breakfast at Home
Low Carb Breakfast Burrito with Homemade Guacamole
We used the leftover taco meat to make the scramble that serves as the filling for the burrito. Fried cheese makes the tortilla edges stick together when you fill it too full.
Labels: breakfast recipe, eggs, homemade
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Dinner at Home
Spicy Shrimp with Baby Bok Choy and Shirataki Noodles
Tasty, spicy and very healthy.
-5 baby bok choy, halved
-2 packages shirataki noodles
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-1 tb chili garlic sauce
-1 tb hoisin
-3 tb soy sauce
-1 tb rice vinager
-1 can chicken broth
Boil the noodles for 2 minutes, drain and set aside. Sautee the garlic in the a bit of olive oil until beginning to brown. Add the soy and chili garlic sauce and sautee another minute. Add everything except for the prawns and bok choy and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the bok choy and cover. Simmer for 2 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook until shrimp are just cooked through.
Labels: bok choy, dinner recipes, homemade, shirataki noodles, shrimp
Snack at One Market, San Francisco, CA
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Health Code Violations
Ratings:
Food: 0
Decor: 1
Service: 0
Labels: Decor: 1, Food: 0, restaurant, review, Service: 0
Lunch at Carl's Jr., San Francisco, CA
Buffalo Chicken Strips $4
This sounded good in theory, but was a diaster in reality. It was basically their normal crunchy chicken strips, but soaked in hot sauce to the point that they were totally soggy.
Six Dollar Low Carb Bacon Cheese Burger $5
Carl's Jr. really seems to be the only burger place that gets the "lettuce-in-lieu-of-bun" thing right. They wrap the burger in large, flat leaves of iceberg lettuce that don't fall apart and acutally work like a bun.
Labels: burger, Decor: 0, fast food, Food: 1, restaurant, review